HEMS paramedic ‘becomes one of the UK’s elite’
Jo Jefferies has become the first HEMS crew member in the UK to receive a diploma in immediate medical care.
A Thames Valley Air Ambulance (TVAA) paramedic, Jo Jefferies, has become one of the first HEMS crew member in the UK to receive a diploma in immediate medical care (DIMC). She completed the course at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, becoming one of the first paramedics to receive the diploma. Prior to this, only doctors had been allowed to enrol on the course.
The HEMS charity contributed towards the funding of Jefferies’ qualification as part of its commitment to ‘developing and enhancing its emergency service in the Thames Valley region’. The funding came from the TVAA scholarship scheme.
“I'm very pleased to have passed, and slightly surprised, but I did have some tremendous support which got me out of the starting blocks,” said Jefferies. “I would absolutely encourage any one of my colleagues to go for it. It was certainly hard work, but it is achievable and hugely rewarding.”